Posts tagged Viswanathan Anand Biography

Viswanathan Anand is regarded as the greatest sportsperson of India who has dominated the game of chess for so many years consistently. He has been the personification of chess in India and is highly acclaimed chess player across the world. His glorious career spans 25 years till now and still counting. He has seen success in every format of the game and taken Indian chess to great heights. He has been immensely successful at both the national and the international levels. Viswanathan Anand is the chess icon for aspiring chess players who has dominated the world of chess since the beginning of his career.

At a very early age of six years, he started learning chess and won the National Sub-Junior Chess Championship in 1983 when he was only 14. He became the youngest Indian player to be entitled as International Master (IM). At age of 16, he became the National Chess Champion and won the World Junior Chess Championshipin 1987. From 2000 to 2002, he held the FIDE World Chess Championship and in 2007, he became the undisputed World Champion. He successfully defended his title in 2008 against Vladimir Kramnik. He is the first player in chess history who has won the World Championship in all three formats including Knockout, Tournament, and Match. Recently he has defended his title against Veselin Topalov in the World Chess Championship 2010.

Some of the notable chess titles won by Anand are as follows.

1983 – National Sub-Junior Chess Champion – age 14

1984 – International Master – age 15

1985 – Indian National Champion – age 16

1987 – World Junior Chess Champion, Grandmaster

2000 – FIDE World Chess Champion

2003 – FIDE World Rapid Chess Champion

2005 – FIDE World Chess Championship Tournament,

2006 – Chess Classic (Rapid),

2007 – Morelia-Linares Super Grandmaster Tournament,

2008 – Morelia-Linares Super Grandmaster Tournament,

2008 – Chess Classic (Rapid)

2010 – World Chess Championship 2010

He has also won the numerous awards including the Padma Shri, Arjuna award, Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan, Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, Sportstar Millennium Award, Chess Oscar(7 times), and many others.